Lillian had merely bobbed her head and agreed to their plans.
Which was how she found herself hunched down behind the substantial body of the last military vehicle in line. The leshii was some distance ahead, herding a mother bear and her cub closer to the line of vehicles. As far as distractions went, it was creative. She just didn’t know if it would be effective or bloodless. She didn’t like the idea of some poor bear accidentally getting shot.
Gregory waited in the shadows to the left of her position. With her shoulder pressed against the armored vehicle’s back end, the vials in question only mere feet from her, she was sorely tempted to snatch the vials and run if it would save Gregory from having to brave the dragon’s den.
Unfortunately, her concealment spell couldn’t hide the vehicle without causing a stir, so she couldn’t switch the samples even if she had the substitutes in her hand.
Still, it was tempting.
Lillian buried the impulse and waited, looking instead at the spell Greenborrow had given her. It glowed softly between the fingers of her right hand. The leshii had instructed her not to touch herself with it and to make sure when she captured her target she got good skin contact. The leshii promised the human would be asleep before he hit the ground. Simple.
Lillian studied the four inch span of glowing magic suspended a above the tips of her talons. The spell resembled a spider’s web, but the filaments shifted and swirled to her sight in a way no spider could manage.
A sudden snapping of twigs and the shaking of underbrush near at hand had her switching her attention back to the forest just as a waist-high ball of fur burst onto the road.
Several flashlights tracked the noise and honed in on the bear cub within seconds. The half-grown cub squalled in alarm at the bright light and then bolted for the second vehicle in line, where its back passenger door was still hanging open. The cub made for what it likely mistook as a dark cave-like interior and vanished within.
A holler came from inside the vehicle, followed by an ‘oh shit’ and both front doors burst open. The soldiers inside jumped out, their guns already trained on the armored vehicle’s dark interior as they slowly backed away.
Major Resnick’s familiar voice rose over the other surprised exclamations. “Turner. Winslow. Grab the tranquilizers.”
Lillian divided her attention between the two soldiers making their way toward the back of the first armored vehicle, and Resnick, where he stood facing the patch of forest which had first spat out the cub.
He held his big-ass gun at the ready, Lillian noted.
From the darkness about thirty feet to the left of the road, she heard the mother bear’s approach. The bear let out a huffing growl, which the cub answered with a loud distress call. At the sound, the mother’s lumbering walk changed into a rolling, powerful run.
“And here comes momma.” Resnick’s voice held a hint of ‘you’ve got to be kidding me,’ but he was otherwise nonchalant about the charging, angry mother bear. He calmly gestured everyone to move behind the vehicles. “Turner. Winslow,” he added without taking his eyes off the forest.
“Ready, sir.”
“As soon as you see the first hint of her black hide.”
Lillian’s attention swung back to her own target only to find he’d moved. Now he was flanked by two other soldiers, his gun trained on the forest.
Gregory wasn’t going to be happy, but they didn’t have time for a new plan. With luck, she could snatch the human and vanish before the other two soldiers noticed.
With her concealment spell firmly around her body, she stalked her target and was in position at the exact moment the bear ran onto the road. It was a smallish black bear, Lillian noticed as she slapped one hand over the human’s mouth and wrapped the other around his wrist. The soldier went limp in her arms, and miracle of miracles, his badass gun didn’t go off.
She dragged him a short distance from the road and realized the dryad, Russet, had joined her. Together, they began stripping the soldier.
Gregory joined them a moment later and motioned them off. “Order me to use my magic,” he whispered in her ear. “It will be faster.”
Lillian’s tail flicked in mild agitation. Now that was an ambiguous command, but she was in a potentially dangerous situation which might give Gregory more freedom over his magic.
After uttering the command softly, she sat back on her haunches.
There wasn’t much to see, actually. A flickering of the shadows and then Gregory was wearing the soldier’s uniform.
He made a sour face and then tugged and pulled at the clothing for a moment before reaching down for the gun. He swung the strap over his shoulder and adjusted it like he knew what he was doing.
She wondered if he did. When he’d scanned the soldier earlier, he might have gained more than just his likeness.
Lillian frowned at that depth of violation. Identity theft was one thing, but this poor man’s privacy had been violated on a fundamental level.
But lives were on the line.
She’d worry about moral codes later.
Gregory took up position like the soldier had held earlier. None of the other humans were aware of the switch.
Lillian sought out what had transpired of the leshii’s little bear drama. The bear in question was lumbering around still, but completely unfocused and lacking coordination. After a quick scan, she spotted the tranquilizer dart embedded in the bear’s shoulder. The cub had rejoined its mother. Neither man nor beast looked harmed.
Mission accomplished.
Lillian eased back into deeper shadows as the mother bear and cub lumbered into the forest to sleep off the drugs.
By the look of things, the bears wouldn’t make it far, but Lillian knew the leshii would watch over them and see to their safety.
The growing rumble of approaching vehicles announced the next part of the plan was about to commence, and this one would be far more dangerous.
The new vehicles and their tree-removal detail arrived. Lillian watched with misgivings as Gregory took his place inside one of the vehicles. When the first vehicle pulled away, Lillian ghosted behind.
She was only able to keep up with the convoy because of a few of the leshii’s other well placed distractions, such as a herd of deer that ran up the road ahead of the vehicles for a short time, and later, a belligerent-looking moose no one was stupid enough to antagonize.
Resnick didn’t strike her as a suspicious man, but his bullshit meter had to be going off by now.
No matter how hard he looked, there would be nothing concrete he could point out to his superiors.
*****
Shadowlight stood over the unconscious Medical Technician hoping the male would wake up.
Surely one that was awake would prove much more interesting. He gave the human a nudge with his muzzle.
Nothing.
Greenborrow had ordered him to stay and watch the human so the leshii, Darkness, and River could track Major Resnick’s convoy, and provide distractions to slow it so Lillian could keep pace.
Shadowlight would have loved to have taken part, but he was also pleased the leshii trusted him enough to have him watch this unconscious human.
The duty was one he’d gladly fulfill any other day. Unfortunately, it was keeping him from other duties today.
It had been a number of hours since he’d given his blood to the female warrior he’d found in the forest. By now, his gargoyle blood would have finished ridding her of the Riven taint, or it would have killed her. She was a fighter. He thought she’d survive his blood, but in her present weakened condition, the elements might be enough to kill her.
Worry gnawed at his belly. He glanced down at the unconscious male at his feet.
By the look of it, this human would sleep for some hours yet. Shadowlight knew he was not overly far from where he’d stashed his rescued human. If he ran quickly, he could be there and back in a relatively short time. The male human at his feet would be safe enough for now. He s
cented no predator nearby. All the activity on the road had driven everything else off long since.
Yes, he was certain it was for the best to check on his pet human. The one at his feet didn’t need him.
Chapter Seven
The vehicle Gregory rode in came to an abrupt halt. The other passengers exited and he followed their example, allowing himself a swift glance around at the other vehicles, military personnel, tall fences, and numerous buildings. All of the above looked to have doubled or tripled in numbers since he’d last laid eyes on this place.
A sense of alert wariness hung in the air. The deceptive calm was like a banked fire just waiting for more fuel to burst into life once again.
Gregory silently admired their readiness. They couldn’t have had much in way of peaceful rest in the day since the Siren and the Riven had clashed here in this land.
The humans had lost a number of their own in the battle—a battle the humans wouldn’t have understood because to them magic, be it good or evil, was nothing more than myth and legend.
But now they knew something dangerous was in the woods with them.
He could only imagine their confusion. Many of their patrols had come back, the signs of battle clear upon their bodies, but no memory of what had transpired, because he and the other Fae had taken that from them.
Not for the first time, he wondered if he might have made a mistake with that decision.
However, there was no time to dwell on it now—the others were dispersing to their assigned tasks. So too must he.
Gregory sought the bundle of memories he’d borrowed from the human whose likeness he now wore. He sifted through them until he found what he needed. The way to the labs.
He reached his destination—some kind of portable building complex—without incident. Inside he found three other humans already crammed into the tight work areas. He made his way over to the only open workstation. Relying on his borrowed memories, he quickly popped open the two cases he’d brought with him.
The blood belonging to the magic wielders was easy enough to spot—it possessed a slight glow. One he could see, but not something a human could discern with the naked eye. Once he located the ones he wanted, a small touch of magic mirrored the markings from each vial onto the corresponding Coven-collected samples.
With Lillian’s immediate family done, he moved on to other Coven members, finding them in the sea of blood samples by the trace of magic present in them. This part took longer since some of these ones were at the other technicians’ stations.
A touch of concealment magic and skills a pickpocket would envy solved that particular hurdle.
But the speed with which he was accomplishing his task did nothing to sooth Lillian’s growing anxiety. He could smell the tang of her fear even inside the building.
“Do not worry,” he sent using their mental link. “I am almost finished here. Just. One. More. Ah, there. See, no epic disaster.”
“Well good for you, now hurry up and get out here. I just smelled a hint of Riven.”
Gregory paused, the last vial he’d switched half way back to its case. “I’m on my way.”
He placed the vial back with its brethren, the human at the workstation none the wiser. With that done, he made his way out into the cooling evening air.
Lillian waited for him next to the building, concealed within the greatest concentration of shadows she could find. He joined her after a quick scan of his surroundings. As he dragged in a deep breath, he caught the faint whiff she had noted.
“Yes, that’s Riven. Very faint. As we speculated, they captured or found Riven remains.” Gregory’s protective instincts flared to life.
He needed to hunt out the source of that scent and destroy every last trace, so its evil couldn’t find a new host. Yet he needed to keep Lillian safe, too.
“They may have Whitethorn and Goswin. We need to rescue them if they do,” Lillian said, adding another complication to an already complex situation.
But she was correct.
“I’ll remain in this form for now and see how far I can get. I imagine where ever the scent leads will be as brightly lit as the place I just left. Shadows will not be plentiful, so don’t risk exposing yourself. We can send your father back here later to rescue Whitethorn and the sprite, should we find them.”
Without the collar limiting him, Gregory knew he could be in and out with no humans the wiser. He didn’t want to say as much to Lillian. He’d hurt her enough with his accusations about her failure in judgement concerning the Siren and the collars created by the Battle Goddess. That wound didn’t need picking at.
“Very well.” Lillian’s whisper drifted to him from the shadows to his immediate left. “Let’s do some recon.”
Her excitement at the thought of finding news of Whitethorn and Goswin washed over him in a spicy wave. As he started in the direction of what had been the town’s community center and arena complex, but was now the military’s main headquarters, he realized he felt better with a task to perform. Freeing himself from the collar might be beyond him at the moment, but friends, those were within his ability to save, or at least locate.
“You’ve got a plan?” she asked as they approached a closed gate with guards standing off to either side.
“Yes, banter around the names of the two top scientists I plucked from the human’s memories.”
“Handy that.”
He didn’t bother with a reply and stopped smartly before the gate. After saluting an officer who was exiting, he turned his attention back to the gate guards. One seemed familiar from his borrowed memories.
“Are Doctors Fleming or Rogers still inside? Major Resnick found something interesting and he wants them to have a look.”
“Something more interesting than what is inside?” the guard questioned, a hint of surprise in his expression.
“No idea,” Gregory bluffed, “Major Resnick didn’t tell me, just ordered me to find Fleming and Rogers ASAP.”
“I saw Rogers return fifteen minutes ago, and Fleming hasn’t taken a break in hours. Whether you can pull them away from their labs long enough to come with you is another question altogether.” The guard shook his head. “It’s like the fucking Twilight Zone around here.”
“Tell me about it.” Gregory gave the guard a somber nod of agreement as they passed him through the gate, Lillian an invisible ghost at his heels.
He made his way deeper into enemy territory. It was busier here, with a number of personnel going about their business with the discipline all soldiers adopted if they wished to survive long on a battlefield.
Lillian, on the other hand, seemed much less impressed and far more worried. “This was a stupid idea. It’s going to end badly. Hell, it’s one of my ideas, of course it’s going to end badly. We should head back and go get the others. We need reinforcements. The collars will do gods know what if we’re endangered.”
Gregory agreed with her on all points, but he’d taken note of something concerning when he studied the immediate area outside the building’s main entrance.
“Do you see those five vehicles parked in the front? They are being loaded, not unloaded.”
Lillian stopped dead, and Gregory had to sidestep at the last moment so he wouldn’t run into her.
“Oh shit.” Her tail flicked in agitation. “They are packing up supplies, or more likely shipping samples elsewhere for more in-depth study. By the size and number of vehicles, they must be planning to move something they deem important. Look at that fire power.”
“Indeed, they are well armed,” he acknowledged. “And we may not have much time. If they have a Riven or have captured Whitethorn and Goswin, then we can only assume they will not waste time in moving them to a more secure location.”
Chapter Eight
Lillian’s stomach tied itself in knots. If Whitethorn and Goswin were still alive, they needed rescuing. She wanted to help accomplish that. Yet, handicapped by the collars as they were, she feared for Gregory’s safet
y, too.
He looked vulnerable with no natural weapons or protective spells at the ready, just the fragile covering of his uniform. Was this how Gregory viewed her when she was merely a dryad?
“You worry too much,” he sent with another mental command to relax. “The Divine Ones have always protected us.”
“Yeah, when they aren’t demanding we die for the cause, or while having their baby.”
“Lillian!”
“Sorry,” she mumbled, but she wasn’t feeling very repentant.
She still thought it was grossly unfair they demanded their Avatars not know physical love, and yet allowed them to crave it. Damn double standards. Or something along those lines. That particular discussion was a fight for another day.
When they reached the community center’s main entrance, Gregory uttered a similar statement about Resnick a second time. They were again granted entrance into the facility.
Lillian squeezed herself between the four guards and on into the building, being careful to stay close to Gregory. “Not to concern you, but I’m fast running out of shadows to hide in.”
“Easy, love,” Gregory said with humor clear in his mind. “I’ve been cloaking you for the last five minutes. I saw your growing wariness. You’ve done very well up until now, but if I could have left you outside, I would have.”
Gregory bypassed the elevators and opted for the stairs.
“Of course they’d keep the damn Riven below ground, far from any useful windows we could use as an escape.”
“A prison should not make escape easy.”
They arrived in the basement. Lillian’s first look inspired the words clean, bright, and downright sterile. She no longer smelt the Riven taint as strongly as before either.
It took her a moment to pinpoint what was different. Ah, there was no more rumble of the A/C units on the roof. The night was cool enough they’d shut down. Without the ventilation system circulating the Riven scent, it grew fainter in their part of the building.
“The Riven, or its body, isn’t here. It must be somewhere else. The only way to find it might be to search room by room.”
Sorceress Hunting (A Gargoyle and Sorceress Tale Book 3) Page 5
